MONTICELLO - It was a good night for the Vikings to step off the bus wearing their hitting shoes.
With a subtle breeze over the Monticello diamond helping fly balls stretch a little farther, Pecatonica (7-4 Six Rivers East) socked six hits and scored five times in the opening inning en route to an 11-1, five-inning baseball victory Monday.
After Milton Kurschner, hitting well over .500 on the season, led off the game with a Texas League single, Drew Moen turned up the volume a touch by drilling a two-run bomb off D.J. McGowan over the short fence in right center.
Junior shortstop Lee Vlasak then crushed a double into the left field corner before center fielder Bubba Holz performed some damage control by coming in hard and diving to rob Jordan Krebs of a hit.
After Bryan Daley smacked an RBI-single to left, Devin Jeglum sent a deep fly the other way to right field. Monticello senior Jacob Edge tracked the fly that just kept drifting before he leapt and snared the ball momentarily, only to have it pop out when he landed.
On the other side of the fence, that is.
"It felt great off the bat and just kept going," Jeglum said. "They were generous in the book and gave me a home run."
Monticello coach Jason Pinnow then flashed some remarkable sportsmanship.
"He asked me if he'd ever had a home run, and when I said no, he said, 'Give it to him,'" Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said.
Jeglum and Daley took the gift and rounded the bases. The Ponies never recovered.
Although Monticello showed a brief sign of life as Edge redeemed himself with an RBI-double to left center in the bottom half, the Ponies managed just one hit the rest of the way as Pec pulled away.
Edge made another leaping grab to limit the damage in the third inning. He went airborne to haul in an elastic fly ball off the bat of Krebs before crashing into the fence.
After cleanup hitter J.T. Meier tore his ACL Saturday sliding into home, Pinnow was simply relieved that Edge walked off under his own power.
The Vikings scored three runs on as many hits in the second inning and added another in the third before scoring two more in the fifth to put the game on ice.
Junior Jake Rindy worked a walk to lead off the fifth before stealing second. He then took third when the ball got away from Andy Pusel as Kurschner also drew a free pass.
Moen drove in his fifth run with a groundout after Kurschner was tagged out trying to take second base on a botched double-steal. Vlasak then smacked a home run, his third hit of the game, to dead left field.
Kurschner used a steady diet of curveballs to get the win in working four innings and reached in all four of his plate appearances.
Both Vlasak and Jeglum finished a triple shy of the cycle. Jeglum was wishing he didn't have to get back on the bus so early. The abbreviated game only afforded him three appearances.
"That was the joke after the game, and guys were getting at me about not getting the triple," Jeglum said. "I don't really care about getting that kind of stuff, as long as I'm hitting the ball well."
All three of the sophomore third baseman's hits went the other way.
"That's what I like to do, because they're expecting you to pull the ball," Jeglum said. "I like to keep them off-balance."
With a subtle breeze over the Monticello diamond helping fly balls stretch a little farther, Pecatonica (7-4 Six Rivers East) socked six hits and scored five times in the opening inning en route to an 11-1, five-inning baseball victory Monday.
After Milton Kurschner, hitting well over .500 on the season, led off the game with a Texas League single, Drew Moen turned up the volume a touch by drilling a two-run bomb off D.J. McGowan over the short fence in right center.
Junior shortstop Lee Vlasak then crushed a double into the left field corner before center fielder Bubba Holz performed some damage control by coming in hard and diving to rob Jordan Krebs of a hit.
After Bryan Daley smacked an RBI-single to left, Devin Jeglum sent a deep fly the other way to right field. Monticello senior Jacob Edge tracked the fly that just kept drifting before he leapt and snared the ball momentarily, only to have it pop out when he landed.
On the other side of the fence, that is.
"It felt great off the bat and just kept going," Jeglum said. "They were generous in the book and gave me a home run."
Monticello coach Jason Pinnow then flashed some remarkable sportsmanship.
"He asked me if he'd ever had a home run, and when I said no, he said, 'Give it to him,'" Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said.
Jeglum and Daley took the gift and rounded the bases. The Ponies never recovered.
Although Monticello showed a brief sign of life as Edge redeemed himself with an RBI-double to left center in the bottom half, the Ponies managed just one hit the rest of the way as Pec pulled away.
Edge made another leaping grab to limit the damage in the third inning. He went airborne to haul in an elastic fly ball off the bat of Krebs before crashing into the fence.
After cleanup hitter J.T. Meier tore his ACL Saturday sliding into home, Pinnow was simply relieved that Edge walked off under his own power.
The Vikings scored three runs on as many hits in the second inning and added another in the third before scoring two more in the fifth to put the game on ice.
Junior Jake Rindy worked a walk to lead off the fifth before stealing second. He then took third when the ball got away from Andy Pusel as Kurschner also drew a free pass.
Moen drove in his fifth run with a groundout after Kurschner was tagged out trying to take second base on a botched double-steal. Vlasak then smacked a home run, his third hit of the game, to dead left field.
Kurschner used a steady diet of curveballs to get the win in working four innings and reached in all four of his plate appearances.
Both Vlasak and Jeglum finished a triple shy of the cycle. Jeglum was wishing he didn't have to get back on the bus so early. The abbreviated game only afforded him three appearances.
"That was the joke after the game, and guys were getting at me about not getting the triple," Jeglum said. "I don't really care about getting that kind of stuff, as long as I'm hitting the ball well."
All three of the sophomore third baseman's hits went the other way.
"That's what I like to do, because they're expecting you to pull the ball," Jeglum said. "I like to keep them off-balance."
